Posted on 04/06/2016 9:00:44 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Is America a better place today than it was back in 1956? Of course many Americans living right now couldn’t even imagine a world without cell phones, Facebook or cable television, but was life really so bad back then? 60 years ago, families would actually spend time on their front porches and people would actually have dinner with their neighbors. 60 years ago, cars were still cars, football was still football and it still meant something to be an American. In our country today, it is considered odd to greet someone as they are walking down the street, and if someone tries to be helpful it is usually because they want something from you. But things were very different in the middle of the last century. Men aspired to be gentlemen and women aspired to be ladies, and nobody had ever heard of “bling”, “sexting” or “twerking”. Of course life was far from perfect, but people actually had standards and they tried to live up to them.
So how did it all go so wrong?
Could it be possible that life in America peaked back then and we have been in decline ever since?
Before you answer, I want to share with you a list of comparisons between life in America in 1956 and life in America in 2016…
In 1956, John Wayne, Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe were some of the biggest stars in the entertainment world.
In 2016, our young people look up to “stars” like Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga.
In 1956, Americans were watching I Love Lucy and The Ed Sullivan Show on television.
In 2016, the major television networks are offering us trashy shows such as Mistresses and Lucifer.
In 1956, you could buy a first-class stamp for just 3 cents.
In 2016, a first-class stamp will cost you 49 cents.
In 1956, gum chewing and talking in class were some of the major disciplinary problems in our schools.
In 2016, many of our public schools have been equipped with metal detectors because violence has gotten so far out of control.
In 1956, children went outside and played when they got home from school.
In 2016, our parks and our playgrounds are virtually empty and we have the highest childhood obesity rate on the entire planet.
In 1956, if a kid skinned his knee he was patched up and sent back outside to play.
In 2016, if a kid skins his knee he is likely to be shipped off to the emergency room.
In 1956, “introducing solids” to a baby’s diet may have meant shoving a piece of pizza down her throat.
In 2016, we have “attachment parenting” which advocates treating children like babies almost until they reach puberty.
In 1956, seat belts and bicycle helmets were considered to be optional pieces of equipment, and car safety seats were virtually unknown.
In 2016, millions of us are afraid to leave our homes for fear that something might happen to us, and if something does happen we slap lawsuits on one another at the drop of a hat.
In 1956, many Americans regularly left their cars and the front doors of their homes unlocked.
In 2016, many Americans live with steel bars on their windows and gun sales are at all-time record highs.
In 1956, about 5 percent of all babies in America were born to unmarried parents.
In 2016, more than 40 percent of all babies in America will be born to unmarried parents.
In 1956, one income could support an entire middle class family.
In 2016, approximately one-third of all Americans don’t make enough money to even cover the basics even though both parents have entered the workforce in most households.
In 1956, redistribution of wealth was considered to be something that “the communists” did.
In 2016, the federal government systematically redistributes our wealth, and two communists are fighting for the Democratic nomination.
In 1956, there were about 2 million people living in Detroit and it was one of the greatest cities on Earth.
In 2016, there are only about 688,000 people living in Detroit and it has become a joke to the rest of the world.
In 1956, millions of Americans dreamed of moving out to sunny California.
In 2016, millions of Americans are moving out of California and never plan to go back.
In 1956, television networks would not even show husbands and wives in bed together.
In 2016, there is so much demand for pornography that there are more than 4 million adult websites on the Internet, and they get more traffic than Netflix, Amazon and Twitter combined.
In 1956, the American people had a great love for the U.S. Constitution.
In 2016, “constitutionalists” are considered to be potential terrorists by the U.S. government.
In 1956, people from all over the world wanted to come to the United States to pursue “the American Dream”.
In 2016, 48 percent of all U.S. adults under the age of 30 believe that “the American Dream is dead”.
In 1956, the United States loaned more money to the rest of the world than anybody else.
In 2016, the United States owes more money to the rest of the world than anybody else.
And there is one more thing that I would like to share with you before I wrap up this article.
This is what the New York skyline looked like on March 31st, 1956…
And this is the kind of thing that we are seeing displayed on the Empire State Building these days…
For those that don’t know, that is an image of the Hindu goddess of death, time and destruction known as Kali. And next month a reproduction of the 48-foot-tall arch that stood in front of the Temple of Baal in Palmyra, Syria is going up in Times Square.
So now that you have seen what I have to share, what do you think?
Has America changed for the better, or has it changed for the worse?
They wouldn’t buy you a television set for your bedroom either. You either watched the family black and white set in the living room or you did without.
That’s only $108,966.45 in 2016 dollars, per the BLS Inflation Calculator.
“In 1956, gum chewing and talking in class were some of the major disciplinary problems in our schools. “
In 1956 hall discipline was handled by trusted senior students who could “write up” fellow students for running, pushing, and such hi-jinks in the halls. Worked just fine and seldom — if ever — required a teacher to intervene. Members of these coveted hall patrol positions got to leave class 5 minutes early and return 5 minutes late.
Elementary school children were guarded crossing busy streets morning and afternoon by student patrols with flags. Traffic always stopped for us and drivers smiled and waved at patrol members. I don’t think a child was ever hit in California by a driver disregarding the student patrol.
This can only end one way - a nuclear nightmare. Hillary is the itchy trigger finger. She will piss off Russia and they will finish the deal. The Russian Orthodox Church has no love for American Protestants - they are no better than Cathars or Scientologists in their view. The Protestant Revolution will die when the nukes fly.
Little steep at $459.95 for a 1958 Philco Predicta UG-4654 with 21” screen ($3,773.67 in 2016 dollars).
I KNOW we’re boiling.....but there is little to do...just separate...separate from the rest of the world....live among your own friends and family who share the same values and cultures...
“He also nominated Earl Warren and instituted the largest public works project in the country’s history. “
I assume that you are referring to the Interstate Highway System.
In 1919 Lieutenant Colonel Eisenhower participated in the first Army Transcontinental Motor Convoy.
It took them 62 days to travel the 3,251 miles from Washington DC to San Francisco.
“As an observer for the War Department, Lt. Col. Eisenhower learned first-hand of the difficulties faced in travelling great distances on roads that were impassable, and that resulted in frequent breakdowns of the military vehicles. These early experiences influenced his later decisions concerning the building of the interstate highway system during his presidential administration.”
I think I might fit right in in Russia or the Ukraine....
You bet. A TV set in the 1950s was a major purchase.
White House 2016
Yep, I had the white “Sam Brown” belt & badge, but 10 years later in Chino.
You win the internet....
“And how long would an average worker have had to work in order to save that much money?”
The Median American income in 1956 was $3,600
There was no need for the executive branch to build it (its Bureau of Public Roads had its powers increased for this self-appointed task by an all-too-willing Congress). The private sector would have been more than up to the task.
The private railroads proved by helping to win WWII that Wilson was absolutely wrong to nationalize them in WWI.
And what with Eisenhower inspired by the Reichsautobahn, perhaps he forgot that those roads made things easier for the Allies to get to Berlin? Strategically problematic to introduce the same vulnerability to the home front.
So did I, but 6 years earlier. There was male favoritism then, however. I was on the patrol 2 years and the top student in my class, but they gave the position of Captain to a less accomplished boy because he “was a boy, and girls couldn’t be captain”. I was titled “co-captain”. Oh well, that was 1950 and to be expected! LOL.
The guy who got to be captain in 1956 got to be head cheer leader over a girl who was more athletic because “he was a guy”. It was OK. He was a nice fellow and we all accepted it in those days.
I coulda streamed TV on the computer.......
In 1956, John Wayne, Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe were some of the biggest stars in the entertainment world.
In 2016, our young people look up to “stars” like Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga.
...
Presley and Monroe weren’t known for their virtue, and John Wayne drank too much.
But it wasn’t really part of their public persona. And define “too much?”
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